Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound Addressed in Consensus Report

A new report addresses issues related to the bioeffects of diagnostic ultrasound and is intended for use in assessing its risks and benefits.

The April 2008 issue of the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (JUM) included the "AIUM Consensus Report on Potential Bioeffects of Diagnostic Ultrasound,” with five articles that provide extensive evaluations of five bioeffects categories: postnatal thermal effects, fetal thermal effects, postnatal mechanical effects, fetal mechanical effects, and bioeffects considerations for ultrasound contrast agents. Each article provides an in-depth analysis, conclusions, and recommendations for use.

This research is the culmination of a 2005 conference organized by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) Bioeffects Committee. At the three-day conference, 37 ultrasound experts assembled to examine issues involving the potential bioeffects of diagnostic ultrasound. The results of the conference, including background and supporting materials, were then extensively reviewed and approved by the Bioeffects Committee and the AIUM Board of Governors before publication. The Bioeffects Committee held a previous consensus conference in 1998, the results of which were published as a special issue of the JUM in February 2000.

In the "Foreword” to the current report, AIUM Immediate past president Lennard D. Greenbaum, M.D, stated, "For several decades, the AIUM has been active in the evaluation of ultrasound safety through its Bioeffects Committee and special panels convened periodically to review issues related to diagnostic ultrasound… The publications associated with all of these activities have provided important guidance to the medical ultrasound community.”

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine is a multidisciplinary association dedicated to advancing the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines, and accreditation.


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American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine